Here we celebrate not only the fauna and flora of the summer seashore and intertidal zone, but also its varied landscapes, light and recreational opportunities.
Ernie Janes,Ernie Janes / RSPB Nature reserve at Titchwell Marsh Norfolk, May
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Wild Wonders of Europe / Muñoz / Traigh Uuige sand dunes, Androil Beach, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, UK, June 2009
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Ernie Janes / Beach and sea at Traigh Lar, North Uist, Hebrides, Scotland, UK, June.
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Robert Thompson / Tranarossan Bay, near Melmore Head, Rosguill Peninsula, County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, August 2011
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Sue Daly / Bay and beach of La Grande Greve, Sark, Channel Isles, UK, Summer.
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Wild Wonders of Europe / Campbell / Bottlenosed dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) one jumping the other surfacing, Moray Firth, Nr Inverness, Scotland, May 2008, Sequence 2/4
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Merryn Thomas / Par Beach, St. Martin's, Isles of Scilly, UK, September.
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Solvin Zankl / Harbour porpoise (Phocoena Phocoena) swimming, Fjord and Baelt centre, Norway. Captive, May 2009
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) feeding on plankton in the surface waters around the island of Coll, Inner Hebrides, Scotland, UK, June. 2020VISION Book Plate. Did you know? The largest Basking sha...
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Tim Edwards / Barrafundle Bay at dawn Pembrokeshire NP, Dyfed, Wales. summer, horizontal
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Mateusz Piesiak / Young American oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) snatching food from adult on the shoreline. Long Island, New York, USA, July 2010. Winner, Young Wildlife Photographer, 2011 Wildlife Photographer o...
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Hougaard Malan / Photographer atop a seaside cliff. Arniston/Waenhuiskrans, Western Cape, South Africa. August 2013. Non-ex.
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Geoff Simpson / Beach at low tide with shells and pebbles, Porth Dinllaen, Gwynedd, Wales, UK
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Mollusc shells washed up on a beach in the Cairns of Coll, Island of Coll, Inner Hebrides, Scotland, UK, North Atlantic Ocean, June 2011
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Jean E. Roche / Shells on beach, Camargue, France
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Nick Upton / Cast and feeding depression of a Lugworm (Arenicola maritima) on sandy shore at low tide, St.Bees, Cumbria, UK, July.
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Philippe Clement / Green sea urchin (Psammechinus miliaris) shell on beach, Belgium
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Philippe Clement / Dead shells of Pea Urchins (Echinocyamus pusillus) on beach. The North Sea coast, Belgium, February 2011.
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Alex Hyde / Common Limpets (Patella vulgata) on rock in intertidal zone as the tide comes in. Elgol, Isle of Skye, Inner Hebrides, Scotland, UK, March 2012.
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Andrew Parkinson / Assorted seashells, Isle of Mull, Scotland, UK
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Philippe Clement / Common wentletrap (Epitonium clathrus) shell on beach, Belgium
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Nick Upton / Flat periwinkle (Littorina obtusata / Littorina littoralis) on Toothed wrack (Fucus serratus) submerged at mid tide, near Falmouth, Cornwall, UK, August.
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Nick Upton / Dense, extensive bed of Tangleweed kelp (Laminaria digitata) exposed on a low spring tide, with sailing yachts on the horizon in the background, Cornwall, UK, August.
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Laurie Campbell / Split level view into rockpool showing Edible periwinkles (Littorina littorea) grazing on kelp, Berwickshire Coast, Scotland
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Nick Upton / Edible crab (Cancer pagurus) well camouflaged among holdfasts of Tangle kelp (Laminaria digitata), exposed on a low spring tide, North Berwick, East Lothian, UK, July.
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Nick Upton / Shoal of Atlantic herring fry (Clupea harengus) swimming in a rockpool past kelp fronds, near Falmouth, Cornwall, UK, August.
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Nick Upton / Yolk and developing embryo visible in Mermaid's purse egg case of Lesser spotted catshark / Dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula) entangled with Coralweed (Corallina officinalis) in a rockpool. Rhossil...
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Chris Gomersall / 2020VISION / Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) bow-riding, near South Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, UK, June
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John MacPherson / 2020VISION / Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) two breaching in evening light, Moray Firth, Inverness-shire, Scotland, UK, August, sequence 2/2. Photographer quote: 'A day of overcast cloud cleared in the la...
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Florian Graner / Harbour porpoises {Phocoena phocoena} off Isle of Man, Irish Sea
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Pedro Narra / Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) porpoising near the beach, Sado Estuary, Portugal
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Dorsal fin of a Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) at the surface, Cairns of Coll, Inner Hebrides, Scotland. UK, June.
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Ernie Janes / Common Seals (Phoca vitulina) hauled out on sand bank at Blakeney Point, Norfolk, England, UK, August.
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Fergus Gill / 2020VISION / Male Ringed plover (Charadrius hiaticula) on beach, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, UK, June. Did you know? When Plovers sense danger a parent bird will pretend to have a broken wing to distract predators.
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Edwin Giesbers / Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) on beach, Heligoland, Germany
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Alan Williams / Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) flock in flight, Liverpool Bay, Lancashire, UK, September
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Gerrit Vyn / Adult Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus) incubating on nest. Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. Baldwin County, Alabama, USA. June 2010. NB. This section of coastline was affected by the BP Deepwater...
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Fergus Gill / 2020VISION / Male Ringed plover (Charadrius hiaticula) on beach, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, UK, June.
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Chris Gomersall / Flock of Arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea) in flight over beach, Northumberland, UK, May
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David Tipling / Arctic Tern (Sterna paraidsea) in flight at at breeding colony in front of Sullom Boe Oil terminal, Shetland, Scotland, UK.
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Michel Poinsignon / Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) in flight, vocalising, aggresive behaviour, Farne Islands, Northumberland, UK, July
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Krista Schlyer / Least tern (Sternula antillarum) parent about to feed chick fish, Louisiana, USA. June 2010.
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Claudio Contreras / Yellow legged gull (Larus livens) preening, Santispac beach, Bahia Concepcion, Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California), Mexico, May
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Colin Varndell / Thrift (Armeria maritima) growing on shingle beach at Bexington, Dorset, UK June
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Ernie Janes / Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly (Aglais urticae) on Sea Holly (Eryngium maritimum) Norfolk, England, UK, August
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Ernie Janes / Sea lavender (Limonium vulgare) Wareham Marshes, Norfolk, UK July
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Nick Upton / Sea bindweed / Beach Morning Glory (Calystegia soldanella) flowering on coastal sand dunes among Marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) and Lesser hawkbit (Leontodon saxatilis), Studland, Dorset, UK, July...
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Bernard Castelein / Sea Lavender (Limonium vulgare) growing on shingle, Cote d'Opale, France, July.
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Rob Tilley / Beach morning glory (Calystegia soldanella) in flower, South Padre Island, Texas, USA, May 2009
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Gary K. Smith / Yellow Horned poppy (Glaucium flavum) growing on coastal shingle ridge, Norfolk, UK, August,
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Nick Upton / Atlantic Yellow legged gull (Larus michahellis) with a young chick on sandstone cliff nest site with tourists on the beach in the background, Praia da Rocha, Algarve, Portugal, June.
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Petra Wegner / Domestic dogs, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (Blenheim and tricolor variations) on sand dunes
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Christophe Courteau / Mother and daughter playing with a spade on the beach. Biarritz, Aquitaine, France, September 2014. Model released.
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Christophe Courteau / Young girl playing on the beach with a spade. Biarritz, Aquitaine, France, September 2014. Model released.
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Jerry Monkman / Children playing with boogie boards on Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, USA, August 2008. Model released.
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Ernie Janes / Yellow Labrador and Springer spaniel playing in shallow water on beach
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Toby Roxburgh / 2020VISION / Holiday makers on the beach in the sun, St. Ives Harbour, Cornwall, England, UK, June 2011
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Petra Wegner / Cavalier King Charles Spaniel tricolour male, age 3, retrieving ball from sea, Texel, Netherlands.
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Nick Upton / Family playing beach cricket, Cornwall, UK. Model released, April 2009
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Bertie Gregory / 2020VISION / Two boys rock pooling with nets, Falmouth, Cornwall, England, UK, July. Model released
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / RF- Children enjoying dipping in rockpools at low tide in Falmouth, Cornwall, England, UK, July. Did you know? You are never more than 16 miles from the sea in Cornwall. (This image may be licensed ei...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / View up through tidepool of 2020Vision young photographer, Bertie Gregory, Falmouth, Cornwall, UK, July 2011. Model released. Did you know? Life isnt easy in a rock pool! Animals here must deal with c...
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Pete Cairns / Boy jumping off sand dune, Wester Ross, Scotland, UK.
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Jerry Monkman / Young boy skim boarding at Popham Beach State Park in Phippsburg, Maine, USA, July 2009. Model released.
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Christophe Courteau / Mother and daughter playing, running along beach at sunset. Biarritz, Aquitaine, France, September 2014. Model released.
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Nick Upton / Adult Herring gull (Larus argentatus) walking among sunbathers on beach, St.Ives, Cornwall, UK, June. Editorial use only.
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Gavin Hellier / Yellow flower infront of double decked beach huts, Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset, UK 2009
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Ernie Janes / Cromer Pier at sunset, Cromer, Norfolk, UK, July
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Merryn Thomas / Penarth Pier at dusk, Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff, Wales, February 2012.
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David Kjaer / Common starlings {Sturnus vulgaris} flying in to roost on West Pier, Brighton, UK.